The paintings in my body of work use German Expressionism to create freely distorted but still representational storybook illustrations and portraits. Can artwork influence people’s morals? Yes! Can artwork be both representational and abstract? Yes! I create paintings by drawing with charcoal on Stonehenge paper and painting over the drawings in acrylic paint and then with just acrylic and / or oil paint later. These narrative scenes serve as illustrations for my storybook titled, The Adventures of Henry and Isabella: Battle of Proerable. Written narratives correspond to them. I also create a series of abstract portraits of my friends.

I create a series of narrative scenes and figures for my book in reference to my love of action and adventure films and television, and portraits of my friends in reference to their personalities. Henry and Isabella are depicted fighting robots, clones, androids, superhumans, genetically engineered creatures, and evil kings and queens. They travel to many planets and dimensions in their quest to defeat villains using their self-manufactured weapons. However, my portraits are of my friends and family. I feel close to them as though I can depict their personality traits in my portraits through my use of color.

My work relates to Molly Bang’s depiction of Little Red Riding, Paul Klee’s Senecio, Kandinsky’s With Sun, and Franz Marc’s Horse in Landscape. All these works of art are expressionistic and abstract. Bang illustrates the story by painting the characters and their environment as non-objective shapes. The color and size of the shapes cause an emotional reaction in her which also happens to me when looking at my narrative scenes and portraits. Kandinsky’s With Sun, 1910 is a freely distorted but still representational landscape, it is non-objective but still has identifiable features. However, Klee’s Senecio is a piece of abstract art also making it non-objective. Franz Marc’s Horse in Landscape is an animal-themed painting which depicts a horse in its natural setting. Distinguishable from Bang’s and Klee’s work, my storybook illustrations and portraits are partly non-objective. My robots, tanks, trees, ground, and sky are identifiable but have no identifiable physical features. Also, distinguishable from Marc’s work, my illustrations feature animals in their natural setting, but with humanistic qualities and behaviors.

Both series are created on 22 x 30” Stonehenge paper, resulting in large paintings so that I can create large battles and environments based off my book and capture all the facial features of my friends in my portraits. Again, the paintings in my body of work use German Expressionism to create freely distorted but still representational storybook illustrations and portraits. I also depict battle scenes between the triumphant and just, Henry and Isabella against the evil villains these characters face in my book as a clearer interpretation of the fight of good versus evil. In addition, my family and friends’ portraits express their personalities.